Tag Archives: music

December 14, 2025 · 11:24 am

Collin Raye Inspires Me

Collin Raye inspires me.

As a birthday gift, I took my wife to the Collin Raye and Lonestar Christmas and Hits concert on Saturday. It was a fun night. Our first concert was Collin Raye at a state fair when we were dating. So, it was cool to see him again in concert after 29 years.

Collin Raye is 65 years old. His voice is the same, his personality, too. But we all grow old. Collin Raye had some fun with that truth. He shared a story about injuring his knee. He joked that he needed to catch his breath after singing “That’s My Story”.

But the energy and joy was tangible as he performed. His voice took us back in time, yet brought joy to the moment. As is my nature I thought of a few things about art, about creativity, and about life.

First was the powerful force art is. In this case music, but in my life poetry and stories and these blog posts. Overall the night was joyful and energetic, but also reflective when Collin Raye sang some of the more spiritual Christmas songs.

I hope my words have that effect on readers. To make them think, to be moved toward the emotions and reflections I try to express in my words.

Second was that AI can not match human creation and expression.  Yes, I think it can help an artist reach their creative goal, but that’s the point. Art is human based. It is a reflection of our souls, or hearts, or views of this life. AI can not do that.  I think we have a ways to go before we find the balance between technology and human creative importance, but I trust in the power and need for us to express the meaning of this world through our chosen art.

Lastly, this life is a moment. We get to choose the moments, the content, the meaning of it. The whole concert was a wonderful time, filled with funny moments: the keyboard player for Lonestar received a few drinks from a couple in the front row. It was a ‘had to be there’ moment. The Christmas songs reminded all of us of the upcoming holiday and what it should be about.

And seeing Collin Raye perform at age 65 without reservations was an inspiration for me.

Here is one of the songs Collin Raye performed at the first concert. This song has always stuck with me.

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December 4, 2025 · 8:47 pm

I am Jealous of Chris Glover

I got to interview one of my favorite musical artists, Chris Glover, on an episode of The Creative Moment podcast (YouTube video below). He is now known as Penguin Prison, but I have been a fan of his from the beginning of his career. So, it was an honor to get to talk with him for the podcast.

But now… I am jealous of him.

At about the 27 minute mark in the video I ask Chris what is his main drive as an artist, what was his WHY for creating music. I totally understood his answer. Chris said “I basically can’t do anything else.” 

Chris didn’t mean he didn’t have the skills to do anything else, he expanded on the answer talking about how life would be easier with a normal job, but that wasn’t him. Chris is a musician, a creative person. This is what he does.

Chris is living out his life through his music. That’s why I am jealous. To live life by surrendering to my writing would be incredible.  But that is the central battle of many artists, especially ones like me that have built families and careers. I have written about this balancing act before (“It is hard to reach your goals“). And make no mistake I would not give up any aspect of my life as a husband and father to be a famous poet / writer.

Doesn’t mean I can’t be jealous of Chris though, and I believe his music reflects that surrender to his music. You can feel the joy and authentic energy in his songs. It is one of the reasons I am a fan. His music is not like any other musician’s. 

I am jealous, but I am also inspired by Chris Glover. Even more so after getting the opportunity to talk with him. I am inspired to write the poetry, the blog, the stories only I can write. 

In fact, the chorus of Chris’ first ever single “Stand on Your Seat” makes more sense to me now: 

if y’all don’t want it, y’all don’t need it

if y’all could stand it, y’all are seated

if y’all don’t want it, y’all don’t need it 

but it won’t let me go

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November 19, 2025 · 4:55 pm

Remembering

I have a routine on the weekend when I spend time in my classroom grading. I grab some CDs to listen to as I grade. I pick an album or two, usually an artist I haven’t listened to in awhile. But I always pick two of my mixed CDs. Some of them are titled, like “The 107 Mix”. (Don’t ask how I come up with titles.) But others are not labeled, they sit in their paper sleeve like a musical gift for me to listen to.

Last Sunday I listened to the soundtrack for Reality Bites and the album Vertigo by Billie Myers. I had two mixed CDs. One of them was purple, part of the cool colors line of CDs from Memorex. The other was a plain silver CD with no title. I had a lot of grading to do last weekend. (I actually didn’t get home until 11:30 that night.)

I don’t actually remember when I decided to open the musical gift of the purple mixed CD, but when the first song started, I teared up.

When I worked at Centura I had a group of colleagues that loved sharing music with each other. We even made our “Top 10 Songs of All Time” mixed CDs that we shared with each other. Even now, I will snap a picture of the car radio when one of their songs is playing and text it to them.

The purple CD was not a top ten CD (those were in the slim plastic case and had an insert with the song title and artist listed). This CD was a mix of blues music Mr. Monter had made just for me. This was also part of the friendship in the group. Making CD mixes we thought someone would like.

The opening notes of B.B. King’s “All Over Again” hit me with a wave of joy and sadness. Mr. Monter was my principal at Centura. He passed away over 10 years ago. Yes, I have blogged about Mr. Monter before. I miss him.

But I have a purple CD with a range of blues music that he made for me. OK, I have a number of mixed CDs, but I listened to this one as I graded essays last Sunday. I thought about our golf outings. I thought about my other friends. I thought about how life gives us incredible moments. I thought about how important it was to have a physical artifact of our friendship. (Yes, I got grading done.)

Maybe I am just getting old, but lately I’ve found myself stepping away from the digital aspects of my life. Some people may have noticed on X, I don’t know. But there is magic in the physical world that I can not experience in the digital world. Yes, a song on Spotify can bring back memories, but to be surprised and hold a physical representation of a friendship brings a depth of joy I can feel in my hands and my heart.  There is nothing artificial in that moment. Nothing temporary or forgotten after scrolling.

By the way, I wrote a title for the purple CD on the sleeve, “Remembering a Friend”.

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March 23, 2025 · 9:25 pm

Song Number 25

I was walking last weekend and decided to listen to my top songs from 2022 on Spotify. I have saved my top song playlist for each year. They are like musical historical documents. I enjoy writing my musical blog posts, and my first idea was to share the number ones, but that seemed to be too obvious of a choice. I had a few other ideas, but then it hit me that I would use the twenty fifth song… because 25 was my football number. And that felt right. So, here is a look back at my 25th favorite song from the last four years with a small comment for each song. Enjoy learning a little about me through music.

2021: “I can See it in Your Eyes” by Men at Work

Comment: The first cassette I ever bought was Men at Work’s Business as Usual. Which is the album that this song comes from. As I have grown older, this song has become a classic break-up song. And one I understand better. The mix of nostalgia and how a relationship can just change without a reason why.

2022: “Life in a Northern Town” by The Dream Academy

Comment: This song always painted a picture of hope amongst hard times. The song was inspired by the shipyard closures in northern England. But for me the music and lyrics mix in a way to inspire a sense of hope. When I was younger, I imagined it was me at the end of the song leaving. Even now this song comforts my spirit (as does the whole album).

2023: “Nice To Meet Ya” by Niall Horan

Comment: I do like modern music. And I enjoy songs that make me want to move, that indulge in a little romantic vibe. This song does both. I remember hearing for the first time on the commute to school. When I got to school I found it on Spotify and played it on repeat. Every time it came on the radio, I sang it to my wife. She just rolled her eyes (LOL), but with a smile. She knows my musical taste. (I have a playlist dedicated to these kinds of songs.)

2024: “Headed for a Heartbreak” by Winger

Comment: I was actually surprised that this song was this high when I first looked up the songs for each year. But after considering all the personal events and other challenges that the last couple of years brought, I could understand. And yes, it is kind of a sappy song, but that is another part of me (yes, I have a playlist dedicated to these kinds of songs, too). I was in high school when this song was released and going through some turbulent times trying to change the trajectory of my life. This song just fit for me at that time. And like the history lesson music is for all of us, it has stayed with me. It is number 12 on my top 100 of all time list. 

Honestly, I was a little surprised at the songs sitting at the twenty fifth spot for the last four years. I thought the songs would be more modern but three of the four are songs that best represent my history. Songs that remind me of where I came from, but still inspire me to move forward to become the person I wanted to be when the songs entered my life.

What are some of your foundational songs, songs that represent your history? Share them in the comment section.

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December 14, 2024 · 7:28 pm

Christmas Letter 2024

2024 has been a hard year, for a number of reasons. Which I will not elaborate on because Christmas letters are not supposed to be sad and depressing. They are truthful, but should bring some happiness to the readers. So, I will just say 2024 has been a hard year, and leave it at that.

A Christmas letter has a number of purposes. The first is to highlight important events from the past year.

And I know everyone wants to know what my Spotify Wrapped entailed. Prince was my number one artist, again. But thanks to my youngest daughter, Taylor Swift landed in second place! Plus, she had three songs make my top 100 for the year.

My number one song of 2024 was actually a surprise. It is “Satellite” by Harry Styles.

I do like this song… just didn’t know I played it so much.  The rest of my top 10 was not surprising.

I spent a lot of time on the road attending different author events (I blogged about some of those events, A Poet Travels 1550 Miles). Those events really kept my spirit filled. 

So did producing The Creative Moment podcast with my son. We have recorded 8 seasons so far. And have no plans on stopping anytime soon.

One of the most bitter sweet aspects of life is family. As a dad it is amazing to see each of my children grow and build their lives, but it is also a reminder that time is moving forward. Change happens. New hardships appear, but so do new joys and experiences. Being a dad is enduring the most joyful heartbreak everyday.

I will not complete my reading challenge this year. I try to read 60 books each year. I am projected (got three books I’m reading right now) to finish at 47 books. But that’s OK, I have read some cool books this year. Here are five of my favorite (in no particular order):

1. Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

2. What Happens in Nebraska by Cat Dixon

3. Impossible Knots by K.P. DeLaney (a guest on The Creative Moment)

4. Denison Avenue by Christina Wong

5. Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby

And last a Christmas letter is meant to stay connected with family and friends, to share joy… and so I wish you a joyful holiday season!

And I’ll end this letter with my 100th song from my most played list:

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April 14, 2024 · 8:29 pm

My Top 5 Songs

For my regular readers you know that my best friend and I have been counting down our top 100 songs of all time. We finished last week. My best friend proposed our top 25 albums of all time, which we will start sharing in June.

 Here are my top 5 songs.

Number 5: 

“Welcome to the Boomtown” by David & David. 

A group that only produced one album.  The album is a look at the gritty truth about life. “Welcome to the Boomtown” is pretty clear about how drugs affect a town. There are two main story lines, both look at people that should be successful but drugs and money take them down. It was a song I loved as soon as I heard it, way back in high school… and it is still on lots of my playlists.

Number 4:

“I Don’t Wanna” by The Call. 

There is so much here about this song. This was an important song for me as I was trying to change everything and understand what my choice would lead to. I connected and still connect with the loneliness of feeling love. The song is complex and certain parts connect with life as I’ve grown. But at the heart is just the desire to be loved in the moment. Yet, life takes it away and you have to live without it.

Number 3:

“Alive and Kicking” by Simple Minds. 

There are some levels to this song, one level is about how love makes you feel. But there is a sad aspect with it, what if it goes away? The chorus asks those questions. The question that gets me is ‘who’s going to save you?’  I love the build up to that question (second time), the music and the lyrics. Alive and Kicking is a cool idiom to express the energy Love gives you, but also takes from you. This song lifts my spirit every time I hear it. 

Number 2:

“Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

 I wanted this to be the song my wife and I danced to at our wedding reception. My sappy side is on full display in this song.  But honestly, I believe in it… in Love, real love. I don’t know how or why but that belief kept me holding on in so many different ways throughout my years. It is why I didn’t have relationships like I saw my parents have. Why I fought to make my life better. Love can change everything.

Number 1:

“I Would Die 4 U” by Prince. 

First it is a groovy song. You want to dance to it as soon as it starts. When I was young I thought it was a great love song, a little weird with the lyrics but the feeling of being in love so much you would die for them is universal and that’s why many people still see it as a love song.  But it is more spiritual than that. This is a first person perspective from Jesus. People don’t know that. If you read the lyrics as you listen you will understand the perspective.  Even with that, there is a line that gets to me personally, third verse when Prince rapid fires the “I-I-I’ really need is to know that you believe”. I guess I have always been searching for that… to know someone believes in me. 

So, they say you can learn a lot about a person by the music they listen to… this is part of who I am through by my top 5 songs.

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March 10, 2024 · 8:25 pm

Random Life

I usually use Spotify on my walks. Not 100 percent of the time, but mostly. By now you may have seen the AI DJ option. I’m sure you know that the “shuffle” option is not actually random for a playlist. Heck it is not random if you shuffle an artist. Even if you are a true fan, you usually just get the top songs…

AI is telling me what my own musical taste is… and it’s wrong.

Let’s stay with the music first. Jake Peterson in his article “The Reason Spotify Shuffles Aren’t Really Random (and How to Fix It)” says it best, “But most of us use the shuffle feature because we want random songs to play. Intentionally picking only songs that match each other means there are plenty of tracks that never see the light of day, and other songs that play much more frequently.” 

I have over a 1000 CDs, hundreds of cassettes, and my “Just Some Good Songs” playlist on Spotify is 49 hours long. 

Do I remember every song I ever heard? No.

Do I own CDs I haven’t listened to for awhile? Yes.  But I have listened to every one of them at least once.

My musical taste is mine. So, when I hit shuffle on a playlist, or an artist, like Prince. I am expecting to hear songs I haven’t heard in awhile. I want to be taken back in time, to remember moments I hadn’t thought of in awhile. I want to be reminded of how great a song is, or to appreciate a song now that I have experienced more in life and the song hits differently.

By default the algorithm is designed to play songs that match together. Joe Fedewa explains how this works in his article, “Why Spotify Shuffle is Not Truly Random”. Basically, Spotify curates the songs in a playlist, trying to keep songs by the same artist spread out and to have songs flow together. So, as Jake Peterson said, you may never hear a song you put on a playlist. A song you like.

The beauty of life is the randomness that happens.

Seeing a bird take flight on my walk.

Trying a new drink at the coffee shop, or the crazy new chip flavor Lay’s comes up with.

Or having a DMX song play after Phil Collins on my walk. That’s who I am, at least musically. AI will never understand that.

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March 2, 2024 · 7:25 pm

Top 100 Memories

My last music based post was last November (2023). If you are a regular reader you know that my best friend and I are counting down our top 100 songs of all time. Today was number 39. Each day we share a little about why the song is part of the top 100. The coolest part is appreciating the memories that go with the songs. The first concert for my second son, singing in the hallways of high school, playing Nintendo Ice Hockey.

No, I am not going to share all the songs or memories. But it is a Saturday night and it feels like a good time to share a few of the songs from my list, but only the ones that have been shared. (I might do a post about the top 10 when we are done.)

The first song is “The Men Who Drive Me Places” by Ben Rector. (Number 96)

What I love most about this song is the reminder that we all have stories. We all have dreams. Sometimes they come true. Other times, the dreams are partially realized. But we chase them, and along the way we live life with the people we love.

The second song is “Who’s Behind the Door” by Zebra. (Number 82)

Yes, a trip back to the 80s when you would go to a friend’s house to lounge around and listen to music. Zebra was a band we both loved. We would go to the mall to buy their cassettes. And listen to it in his car on the way home. (I did not have a car in high school… that is another story.) I love the idea of what is beyond our world in the song, and the memories of a friendship that has lasted for decades. Side note: if you like live albums, Zebra’s live album is fantastic.

The final song is “I Can See It in Your Eyes” by Men at Work. (Number 47)

Business as Usual by Men at Work was the first cassette I ever bought, and with my own money. I would listen to this album while I played Atari 2600 after school. Centipede was one of my favorite games. Next was Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The only game I ever finished. I kept dying on the last level of Frogger. Back to the music, this is one of those rare cases that I like the album songs more than the radio hits. This song is a unique look at the end of a relationship and the passing of time. Their music has always been original and I have been a fan for a long time.

The bittersweet aspect of listening to the soundtrack of my life is knowing that all I have now is the memories. After all the events over the past year, I can’t lie that I wish I could somehow go back and relive some of the best moments of my life. I know the future has joyful moments to come, but still… 

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February 11, 2024 · 9:17 pm

Blueberry Muffins and the Top 100 Songs of All-Time

My best friend and I have been sharing our top 100 favorite songs of all-time in countdown style since January 1st. We share one song each day with a quick insight on why the song was chosen. Usually we send the song info each morning. Today was no different. (Today was number 59, “A Different Corner” by George Michael for me. For my best friend it was Jane’s Addiction, “Summertime Rolls”)

I sent my text as I was waiting for the oven to preheat. The muffin pan was filled with the paper muffin cups. Coffee was about halfway done. A regular Sunday morning vibe. I smiled as I sent my song because I remembered the music video we made for my song. We filmed my reflection in a closet mirror as I sat backwards on a kitchen chair… where was TikTok when I was a teen? 

Over the last month it has been a musical journey sharing my list with my best friend. Yes, many of the songs are connected to our friendship, but others are soundtracks to other times in our lives. My best friend has songs from obscure artists that he has seen in concert. I have songs that I sing along to with my daughters. It is fun to continue to learn more about my best friend. It has also been good to remember the better moments in my life. 

Good moments like blueberry muffins on Sunday morning.

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January 14, 2024 · 8:20 pm

Blueberry Muffins and a Snow Storm

We finally got out of the house today. It was late morning, we had our traditional Sunday morning breakfast, but we were running low on milk and other supplies because we stayed home for two and a half days as another snow storm hit our area.

During the last three days, I adventured out a handful of times to clear a path on the driveway. I battled new drifts each time. And of course had to deal with the pile of snow the plows leave at the end of the driveway every time they clear our cul-de-sac.

It was cold! No, we do not own a snow blower, so I cleared the driveway (four times) with a shovel. Besides taking a lot of time, it was peaceful work. Scoop, fling, repeat. I watched the drifts fall and found my way to the street. Of course I had to repeat the process because of the storm, but it was good work.

After muffins this morning, I had to tackle a new drift. The wind had died down during the night and this drift was a piece of cake compared to the first round. I had our driveway cleared in less than 20 minutes.

But what struck me this morning was how fast a new routine was developed. Of course the storm lasted for two days, but in fact I have the routine of clearing the driveway whenever there is a storm. And I scoop, fling and repeat.

Routines get a bad rap sometimes. I understand that, especially when a routine feels never ending. I was tired of seeing new drifts form on the driveway, yet as I cleared the snow I saw the street get closer. Some routines are never ending… washing dishes, laundry, just life in general can feel mundane.

But, if we hold to that thought, the routine will feel heavy and joyless. I enjoyed shoveling the snow. I enjoy making muffins every Sunday, and tonight I washed dishes while listening to music. I stopped to dance to one of my favorite songs, “Remind Me” by Tom Grennan. My daughters laughed, my wife gave me ‘the look’ but I was enjoying the moment. (Of course I was wearing headphones and I can’t sing very well!)

Because without the routines, what would happen to our everyday life? If I don’t shovel the driveway, we are running out of food. Let alone the dishes or laundry. Routines are small moments that help make life run smoothly, but more importantly, opportunities to feel everyday joy.

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